


You Keep On Turning Pages

by Spiderlass



Series: Tales From Duckburg! [6]
Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 2018), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: ADHD Character, Abandonment Issues, Autistic Character, Established Relationship, First Fight, Hurt/Comfort, Launchpad's got issues too, M/M, autistic Drake, autistic/adhd Launchpad, it can't be easy having so many people you love leave you behind, trans male drake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 19:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spiderlass/pseuds/Spiderlass
Summary: Launchpad is a man of many talents.Handling arguments with the people he loves well is not one of them.





	You Keep On Turning Pages

“C-Can’t... can’t  _ believe  _ someone with an actual  _ freeze ray  _ was trying to rob a b-bank...”

Launchpad winced as they arrived at the top floor of the tower, unable to resist grinning at how close to the TV show version they’d managed to make the real Darkwing’s hideout. 

“I think there are some, uh, some blankets somewhere. That should help warm ya up, right?”

Drake shivered in response, and Launchpad sighed, picking him up and carrying him over to the chair by the big forensic analysis console. He moved around the hideout, picking up some blankets and wrapping him in them before finding a tub to put hot water in.

“Easy,” he said as he lowered Drake’s feet into the water. “Okay, there ya go. Better?”

“Much,” Drake murmured, though he still didn’t look happy. “Ego’s still bruised, though.”

“Aw, come on, DW, you couldn’t have known that he’d be able to dodge that well! Besides, he left the money when the police showed up, so no harm done, right?”

“I still looked like an idiot. An idiot with f-frozen toes.”

Launchpad sighed, leaning in and kissing his temple softly.

“I’m sure it’ll all blow over soon. And hey, next time you face off with that guy, maybe you can use the flamethrower function on your gas gun to counter the cold ray!”

Drake stilled, tightening his bill for some reason as he turned towards Launchpad.

“... LP?”

Launchpad blinked at his clipped tone.

“Uh, yeah, babe?”

“Did you only just now think of that?”

Launchpad blinked, then swallowed, glancing away.

“Er... well...”

“Because it sounds surprisingly well thought out for something you came up with on the fly. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I might think you’d thought of it earlier.” Drake narrowed his eyes. “Like, say,  _ when I was fighting the guy with the freeze ray.” _

He gulped, tugging at his collar.

“Er, well, I, uh... it, it  _ might  _ have occurred to me that something like that might work while you two were fighting-!”

_ “Launchpad!” _

“What? What did I do?”

“You could have  _ told  _ me your idea, for starters!”

“But you- you seemed so set on settling things the old-fashioned way-!”

“Because  _ your _ way didn’t occur to me!”

“You seemed busy! I didn’t want to bug you!”

“If by  _ bugging me  _ you mean keeping me from getting turned into a Darkwing-sicle and catching the bad guy, then for the love of all things holy,  _ bug me next time! _ Just because I have an idea doesn’t mean it’s the  _ best  _ one!”

“Well, you’re the superhero here!”

“And  _ you’re  _ supposed to be my  _ partner!  _ You have to  _ tell  _ me when I’m  _ wrong,  _ Launchpad, not just- blindly support me all the time!”

“Are you seriously mad at me for being  _ supportive?” _

“I’m  _ mad  _ because I don’t want you to treat me like I’m made of  _ glass!”  _ Drake exploded, feathers fluffing up in anger. “I would think  _ you  _ of all people would know what it’s like to be treated like a  _ child!” _

Launchpad inhaled sharply, heart thundering in his chest as anything he could have said died in his throat.

“I... Drake, I-!”

Drake sighed, slumping in his chair and looking away.

“Just... go home, Launchpad.”

Launchpad swallowed, then nodded, getting up.

“O... Okay, yeah, I’ll- I’ll get the, the Ratcatcher and we can-!”

“No.”

He blinked, looking over at his boyfriend, who still wasn’t looking at him.

“N... No? No, what?”

“No, that’s not what’s gonna happen. What is going to happen is that  _ you  _ will take the Ratcatcher and head home,  _ alone,  _ and  _ I  _ will stay right here in this chair,  _ alone.” _

“But... but how- how are you gonna get home, then?”

“I’ll take the chair tunnel. Easier, anyway.”

Launchpad swallowed again, tears pricking at his eyes.

“But... but we- we always go home together after, after patrol.”

“Yeah, well, not tonight.”

“Why not? Why don’t you want to-?!”

_ “Because I’m mad at you and I don’t want to see you right now, okay?!” _

Launchpad’s heart dropped into his stomach, his blood running cold. He took a shaky breath, pain stabbing at his insides as if his heart really were cracking in two, then he swallowed, anger flaring up in his gut.

_ “Fine,”  _ He spat, turning and heading towards the door to the elevator. “Since I’m not  _ wanted  _ here, I’ll see myself out.”

For a split second, he almost wished he could slam the elevator doors, but that desire faded away just as quickly as his anger fizzled out- namely, right after the doors closed.

Then he just wanted to bawl.

_ He’s going to leave,  _ Launchpad thought as he got on the Ratcatcher. He swallowed, then pushed the thought back down as he left the tower, activating the civilian-mode that S.H.U.S.H had installed on the bike when he was on the road again.

_ He’s going to leave you,  _ he thought as he pulled into the garage of the house at 334 Plumed Place. He swallowed again, shaking his head as he turned off the bike and went inside. 

_ He’s going to leave you, just like everyone else,  _ he thought as he trudged upstairs. His throat tightened, and he took a deep breath before heading for the bathroom attached to his and Drake’s bedroom.

_You almost made it this time. Someone almost stayed. But you blew_ _it, _he thought as he brushed his teeth. 

“Shut up,” he muttered around his toothbrush. He spat into the sink, wiping his mouth off before rinsing off the toothbrush and gargling some mouthwash.

_ You blew it. You could have been happy, could have had a whole beautiful, wonderful life with him and Gosalyn, but you blew it because you’re just so  _ careless.

“Shut. Up.” Launchpad grit his teeth as he pulled on his sleepshirt, shaking his head. “Shut up, he’s- he’s not going to leave. He wants to get married. Wants to be with me.”

_ He did. But now? He has to know, now, that you’re not worth the trouble, that there’s a  _ reason  _ people keep leaving you behind, keep  _ outgrowing  _ you.  _

“Stop it.”

_ He’s going to outgrow you too. Him and Gosalyn both. They’ll both grow and change, and you’ll stay the same happy-go-lucky  _ fool  _ you’ve always been.  _

“They- they won’t. They  _ won’t.” _

_ They’ll leave. They’ll leave you behind, just like everyone else. _

“No, they won’t. They’d... they’d never...”

_ They’re going to move on without you. _

Launchpad bit back a scream, shaking his head and tugging at his hair before storming over to his side of the bed and getting in with a huff.

“Don’t... don’t be ridiculous,” he told himself as he laid down, trying not to wince at the empty spot next to him. “That’s- it’s not going to happen. Not again. Not this time.”

Launchpad bit his bill, then, on impulse, grabbed Drake’s pillow and held it close to his chest.

“It’s not gonna happen again. It’s  _ not.” _

He swallowed, holding the pillow even tighter.

“... right?”

* * *

Drake sighed as his chair stopped spinning, wincing as the world slowly rebalanced.

“Maybe I should find a way of fast travel to and from the tower that  _ isn’t  _ quite so dizzying,” he muttered as he stumbled out of his easy chair, shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair.

The house was dark and quiet, which was pretty much what he’d expected considering it was the middle of the night and Gosalyn was at the orphanage, meaning he wouldn’t have been able to bust her for staying up watching scary movies anyway.

Launchpad... Launchpad was probably asleep upstairs.

Drake swallowed, rubbing his upper arm before starting towards the stairs.

He’d been a real jerk to the big guy, hadn’t he? Yeah, he wasn’t  _ thrilled  _ that Launchpad had had an idea and kept it to himself, and yeah, if the situation had been any more dire someone could have gotten hurt or worse, and yeah, he  _ was  _ a little fed up with feeling like his boyfriend kept handling him with kid gloves, but...

Well, he should know better than anyone that exploding at someone like that never really helped anything. 

“In the morning,” he promised himself as he turned towards their bedroom. “I’ll- I’ll apologize in the morning.”

As he’d suspected, Launchpad was already sound asleep in their bed, curled up on his side and facing away from the door. Despite everything, Drake couldn’t help but smile before he slowly started creeping towards the bathroom as quietly as possible so he wouldn’t wake his boyfriend-!

“Drake...”

He flinched just as he switched on the bathroom light, gulping loudly.

“Er, uh, hey, big guy!” He started with forced cheer. “I-I, um, I thought- I thought you were asleep-!”

He heard a whimper from the bed, and Drake paused, furrowing his brow as he turned around.

“LP? Everything okay-?”

Drake froze, eyes going wide as he took in the sight of Launchpad turning and thrashing on the bed, the whimpers sounding more and more like  _ sobs  _ as they got louder.

“Launchpad?!” He cried, rushing over to his side of the bed and getting on it. His boyfriend’s eyes were screwed shut, beads of sweat staining the feathers on his face as he trembled in his sleep.

“No, no, nonono, please, no, don’t- don’t leave, Drake, please, don’t leave-!”

“I’m here,” he tried, taking ahold of Launchpad’s shoulder and shaking it gently. “I’m here, honey, I’m here, it’s- it’s not real, you’re just having a nightmare!”

“Please don’t leave, please,  _ please-!” _

“Launchpad, I’m  _ right here,  _ I’m- I’m not going anywhere!” He grit his teeth, shaking his boyfriend’s shoulder a little harder. “Come on, big guy, wake up, you gotta- just gotta  _ wake up-!” _

“Drake,  _ please,  _ please, please don’t-! Please don’t leave-!”

_ “Launchpad!”  _ He finally shouted, too worried and frustrated to do much else. “Launchpad,  _ wake UP!” _

That seemed to do the trick, as Launchpad finally woke up with a gasp, eyes wide and full of tears as he panted.

“... Drake?” He whispered, voice cracking a little. Drake sighed, reaching over and cupping his boyfriend’s cheek.

“Hey there, big guy. Are you okay? Sounds like you were having one heck of a  _ whoa!” _

In a split-second, Drake found himself being crushed against Launchpad’s chest, his fingers clutching at the back of his shirt as if he were afraid to let go of him.

“Oof... er, LP? You good-?”

“You win.”

Drake blinked, looking up at him, though it was hard to see anything from this angle.

“Huh?”

“You win. The- the argument. You win, you’re right, I-I’ll- I’ll do better, just- just  _ please.” _

Drake frowned, pushing back against his boyfriend’s chest so that he could look up at him, heart nearly breaking when he saw the sheer desperate  _ terror  _ in his eyes.

“P... Please what?”

Launchpad’s eyes glinted- he was crying, Drake realized.

“Please don’t leave me. Don’t leave me behind. You- you can win, just  _ please  _ stay with me.”

Drake inhaled sharply, eyes stinging as he took his boyfriend’s face in his hands. 

“Oh,  _ Launchpad.  _ Is  _ that  _ what you were having a nightmare about?”

Launchpad nodded, sniffing.

“You... you left. You and Gos, you- you said you didn’t need me anymore and- and you left-!”

“Not need you? Launchpad, I  _ love  _ you, and so does Gosalyn. Of course we need you-!”

Launchpad whimpered, shaking his head.

“N-Now, now you do, but- but what happens later? What happens when- when you both grow and change and I just stay the same and you don’t- don’t need me anymore?”

“What? Launchpad, where is this coming from?”

Launchpad swallowed, then hiccupped, sniffling and shaking his head.

“I-I, I don’t, I don’t want you two to leave me too, I don’t- I don’t think I could handle it, not this time-!”

“This time? Launchpad, what do you mean, this-!” Drake froze, suddenly remembering what Loopey had told him when they’d first met.

_ “Sure, Launchpad falls in love the way he crashes planes- easily, smoothly, and with minimal damage on all sides, but I know it hurts him when they all inevitably leave him.” _

“Oh,” he started in a quiet voice. “Oh,  _ honey.” _

“Don’t leave me too,” Launchpad begged in a small, weak voice. “Please don’t leave me too, I- you can win, it can all be my fault, but  _ please don’t leave me.” _

Drake swallowed the lump in his throat, inhaling as he pulled his boyfriend close. 

“I won’t leave,” he promised, tangling his fingers in Launchpad’s hair. “I won’t. I won’t leave you behind, Launchpad,  _ I won’t.  _ I’m- I’m in this for the long haul too.”

That seemed to break something in Launchpad, who gasped before tightening his hold on Drake, shaking and sobbing against him. Drake let him cry, let him get it all out while just lying there and rubbing his back gently.

“I’ll stay. I’ll stay as long as you need me, big guy.”

Eventually, Launchpad  _ did  _ calm down, though his eyes were tinged red and the feathers on his face were damp from more than just sweat when he pulled away. Drake pulled his head down, kissing his forehead gently, and Launchpad gave him a shaky smile when he let him go.

Then he opened his mouth.

“I’m s-!”

“Stop.”

Launchpad blinked.

“Huh?”

“First, if you’re apologizing for- for crying on me, then don’t, I’ve cried on you before, so we’re even, and even then I wouldn’t want an apology for that. Second, if- if you’re trying to apologize for the fight, then we have to talk first.”

“T... Talk about what? I-I said that you could win if you-!”

“Yeah, see, that? That’s absolutely one hundred percent  _ not okay,  _ LP. Not even a little. Seriously, did someone- did someone tell you that they’d only stay if you agreed to lose arguments? Because that person was terrible and you should never follow any of their advice.”

“I... well, no, there- there wasn’t anyone like that, but... but you were mad at me!”

“We had a  _ fight,  _ Launchpad! Couples fight, it happens! You’ve been in like, hundreds of relationships, didn’t you ever fight with your previous partners?”

Launchpad flinched, looking away.

“... no one... no one’s ever really stayed long enough to- to have more than one fight,” he admitted quietly. 

Drake blinked, then felt his heart sink.

“Oh, Launchpad... look, I can’t say that we’re never gonna fight ever again, because we probably will. But- well, look, don’t your parents fight sometimes?”

“Well, yeah...”

“And they still love each other, don’t they?”

“Of course they do, but... but I’m not...”

“... you’re not what?”

Launchpad sighed, turning onto his back.

“I’ve never had someone tell me they want to  _ stay,  _ Drake. Everyone- every time I fall in love, they always end up leaving me, because they have to go and rule their underwater kingdom, or lead their pack of wereducks, or- or ascend to a higher form of being, or... they all  _ left,  _ Drake. And they all said that the time they spent with me made them better, and I really did love all of them, but they still... no one sticks around.” 

“Launchpad...”

“And I don’t- I don’t  _ want  _ to get angry, because I know they  _ have  _ to leave, but I still... I can’t help but wonder if it’s  _ me,  _ if  _ I’m  _ the problem, because I don’t know what else it could be.” Drake heard him swallow. “I don’t know... I don’t know why I can never just be  _ enough  _ for someone, the way I am.”

And that? That was what finally broke Drake. He sprang up, climbing up on top of his boyfriend’s chest and kissing him thoroughly and deeply. Launchpad made a startled noise, but quickly relaxed into the kiss, his hands going to Drake’s hips.

“Drake-?”

“You  _ are  _ enough,” Drake started, looking him dead in the eyes. “You are enough, you are  _ more  _ than enough, you’re everything and I thank whatever higher power might be listening every single day that I get to be yours. I love you, I love you like I’ve never loved anyone else, and the only person I love more is Gosalyn, and I know that’s true for you too. Whatever reasons the people who’ve left you had, I don’t know and I don’t care, because when I look at you, I can see us growing old together, sitting out on the front porch yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off our lawn.”

“Drake...”

Drake took one of Launchpad’s hands from his hip, pulling it up to his beak and kissing his palm.

“You are the love of my life, Launchpad Orville McQuack. There’s nothing anyone or anything could ever do to make me love you less, and it would take a whole lot more than a stupid fight to get me to leave.”

Launchpad gave him a wobbly smile, then shifted so he could sit up, wrapping his arms around Drake. 

“I love you too,” he murmured into Drake’s shoulder, pressing a chaste kiss there. “You’re the love of my life too, y’know.”

“I’d better be, or else I’d feel really silly about saying all that mushy stuff.”

Launchpad laughed as he pulled back, shaking his head before kissing him softly.

Then Drake cleared his throat.

“So, uh, with- with that out of the way, um... I’m... I’m sorry I yelled at you, big guy. And for bringing up that- that people sometimes treat you like you’re not capable. That was a low blow, and I shouldn’t have said that.”

“S’okay, Drake.”

“No, no, it isn’t okay, and- and I shouldn’t have done it, no matter how frustrated I might have been.”

“About the ice thing, or about feeling like I treat you like a kid?”

“Either. Both.” Drake sighed. “Okay, on the first thing- I really _do _need you to tell me if you have an idea on how to better defeat a bad guy. I need you to find things that I can’t see in the moment, and it wasn’t that bad this time, but next time, it could be a whole lot more serious. Even if you think I’ll get upset, or it might not work, I need you to tell me stuff like that so I can- so I can be a better hero.”

Launchpad smiled, pressing his forehead against Drake’s.

“Okay. I’ll tell ya if I have an idea next time.”

“Thank you.” He hesitated, then swallowed. “Now... about the other thing...”

Launchpad sighed.

“I’m really sorry, Drake. I didn’t- I wasn’t  _ trying  _ to treat you like a kid, or- or like you’re not able to handle things, I just...”

“You were trying to be gentle with me, I get it. And sometimes I  _ do  _ need that gentleness- god knows there’s been a shortage of that in my life- but I also need you to remember that I’m not a fragile little flower. I can handle being told when I’m wrong- I mean, as long as you’re not purposely being mean about it or anything. I don’t want a yes-man, LP- I want a partner.”

Launchpad smiled, then nodded.

“Okay. I can do that.”

“Thank you.” He grinned up at him. “See? There ya go, first big fight as a couple’s already over! Wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Launchpad laughed, leaning in and kissing him once more before pulling him into a hug. Drake sighed contentedly, then flushed and bit his bill.

“Y’know... traditionally, after a fight most couples will, uh, ‘make up’ in a few specific-!”

Launchpad suddenly snored right in his ear.

_ “... how?” _ He asked as he untangled himself from his boyfriend, who immediately flopped back onto the pillows, entirely dead to the world. He sighed, unable to keep from smiling at him. “... eh, in the morning, then.”

Drake got off of his boyfriend, ruffling his hair gently before heading back to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Once he was in his own pajamas, he climbed in on his side, snuggling into his boyfriend’s side and pulling up the covers.

“G’night, big guy,” he murmured, letting Launchpad’s heartbeat lull him to sleep, content that everything would turn out just fine in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone in this family could use therapy tbh.
> 
> Today's story is based on the idea that, as sweet and understanding as Launchpad is, there's no way that he's really just 100% okay with the fact that every single person he's ever fallen in love with has left him behind. That's not how people work, and that's definitely not how people with RSD work (as I can tell you from experience). It's not something that's going to be resolved on it's own- like Drake's fears about parenting, it's something that they're going to have to work on, but it is something that will become a little easier to manage with time.
> 
> Also, for the record, I have no idea if Launchpad's flamethrower idea would work in real life, I'm not that kind of scientist. 
> 
> Finally, I changed the address of the Mallard-McQuack residence, because they live in a suburb of Duckburg rather than St. Canard. I wanted them to stay in Duckburg so I could continue having them interact with the characters there, and also because this series is called "Tales from Duckburg!" not "Tales from St. Canard!"
> 
> Thank you for reading! This one was a little later than usual because I wanted to wait until after ao3's maintenance period was over to post. I'm still working on the next story, but that should be ready on Monday, and then there will be one more one-shot involving Team Two-Dads (aka Gos, Lena, and Violet) on Wednesday before the next multichapter fic in the series starts on Friday! Here's a hint as to what it's about: "they want grim and gritty, huh? Happy to play the part."
> 
> >:3c
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!


End file.
